Here’s an example – Mitchells Plain to Bonteheuwel trainline is down. So for those people, there are no buses going to Bonteheuwel from Mitchells Plain; there is no designated taxi association that goes to Mitchells Plain. So now what’s going to happen? Unfortunately, we are not Uber – we must operate with an operating license. So if the taxi driver takes those people from Mitchells Plain to Bonteheuwel, they get pulled off, vehicles get impounded, 10 or 7 grand, because we don’t have a license to operate there. That’s another issue.
– Amien Abrahams, E-Taxi focus group, March 2018

Facing dysfunctional public transport that reinforces segregation patterns from apartheid, the current system, which relies heavily on private vehicles, is approaching crisis. The existing minibus taxi system is plagued by safety issues, inefficiency, and lack of regulation. The E-Taxi provocation is a response to these issues around mobility within a fragmented city and its surrounds.

The provocation proposes converting the existing minibus taxi system into “e-taxis” – digitally-enabled vehicles equipped with GPS, safety features, and a ride-hailing platform similar to Uber/Lyft. Rather than investing in new transport infrastructure like MyCiTi buses, they suggested redirecting funds to upgrade the current taxi fleet with smart technology, dedicated lanes, and integration with other transport modes. Additionally, these taxis could serve as delivery vehicles during off-peak hours to maximise their utility. While the group acknowledged implementation challenges around industry buy-in and regulation, they saw this as a more organic, bottom-up solution that could improve safety, reduce congestion, and better serve both low and middle-income residents.

We’ve found that the school becomes a place for public life in a new post-apartheid set up. The hall is one of the biggest buildings and parts of a school that then becomes the biggest part of a neighbourhood, and we’ve often found that these school halls become the churches, bioscopes, and sometimes the economic driver for the school… There is an opportunity to think of the school, the architecture of the school hall, the classrooms, as public space, as tools to integrate the immediate surroundings. Some of the key things about public life is that public life is used to set up minor relationships, which are very important for democratic life…
– Ilze Wolff, Living Differently focus group, March 2018

Building on the Spatial Development Framework of Cape Town, the overall principle of the Living Differently provocation was to place a moratorium on sprawl and promote infill development. The shortage of affordable housing in Cape Town’s central areas is often exacerbated by a lack of social integration across socio-economic classes. The discussion explored ways to increase residential density and create mixed-income housing developments on underutilised public land within middle-class and working-class suburbs. This challenge included overcoming resistance from existing residents and finding practical ways to build affordable housing in close proximity to essential amenities.

The group realised that achieving the Living Differently vision would require broad social and political support, particularly a shift in mindset from the ‘Not-In-My-Backyard’ (NIMBYism) attitude to a more inclusive Yes-In-My-Backyard (YIMBYism) approach. An emphasis on the importance of local governance and community engagement advocated for civic initiatives that facilitate affordable housing and multi-use spaces in these suburban areas without compromising existing public amenities.

One of the ways to address that deficit is to look at story, individual stories…how do you create platforms where individual narratives are affirmed and given value? The confidence that comes from that starts to speak to the right to engage meaningfully in the economy… One of the things that our history has done is depersonalise everything – so one of the ways to address that is to personalise everything.
– Participant, Cultural Narratives focus group, April 2018

This provocation seeks to deal with the question of cultural denial and the inability to have meaningful and difficult conversations across generational, racial and class lines, with a specific focus on the youth. This is particularly challenging in a city where historical legacies of segregation have left cultural resources concentrated in wealthier areas, limiting opportunities for cross-cultural dialogue and the preservation of diverse histories.

Cultural Narratives puts forward a novel method to encourage a more inclusive cultural landscape through a movement of Youth Media Clubs. They can take on any form of arts expression, of which radio offers an inexpensive model, harnessing skills associated with research, creative storytelling, aesthetic reflection, technical proficiency and openness to different social and political perspectives. The provocation, together with cultural mapping, is a way to redeploy cultural resources and recognition more evenly across the city.

The extent and provision of early learning in South Africa has reached a ceiling, and we are struggling to break through that for a number of reasons. Some of it is really how little financial investment there is in ECD [Early Childhood Development]… There is a clear graph that shows early investment into education gives you huge economic returns. Later investment in higher education, though important, gives you much smaller economic returns. There is a strong case to be made for that investment if it is not happening.
– Justine Jowell, Placemaking through Public Works, April 2018

This provocation returns to the question of work and addresses the ineffective use of Public Employment Programmes (PEPs) in Cape Town, which often involve workers in low-impact tasks with limited community benefit. There is a recognised need to transform these programmes to enhance neglected public spaces in townships and informal settlements. The goal was to develop a framework that used PEPs not just for short-term employment but as a tool for meaningful placemaking, focusing on safety, sustainability, green infrastructure, and improved quality of life for residents.

Placemaking through Public asked after optimising existing investments in public works programmes to dramatically improve the impact of these interventions so that a much higher quality of placemaking, particularly in ‘townships’ and informal settlements, can be achieved. This focus represents an opportunity for Cape Town to come together as a city across our many fissures to build a system that can transform the lives of our most important citizens. By building on innovative initiatives across South Africa in general, and in Cape Town in particular, this provocation seeks to promote the growth of a citywide movement to transform makeshift Early Childhood Developmental (ECD) infrastructures into places of laughter, exploration, care and love.

The thing with digital [technologies] is that there is no reason why you can’t have an animation company based in Elsies River. In fact, there are success stories already…one of the success stories is in terms of sound. There is an entrepreneur who uses a recording studio in Elsies River, and he sells voiceovers. His clientele is in India and Japan. He has now had a need for additional voices. He’s now got more people that he is employing. It’s a very interesting notion of how you can use tech to start breaking down these bridges.
– Nirvesh Sooful, Solidarity Switchboard, May 2018

This provocation addresses the imperatives of the Fourth Industrial Revolution but from the perspective and needs of the most marginalised communities in Cape Town. It is focused on addressing the mismatch between needs, resources and skills within the Cape Town economy. There is well-founded scepticism around the government’s involvement in the coordination, investment, or possibly the implementation and management of technological projects.

Getting ‘switched on’ is not only getting connected to digital infrastructure but also acquiring new essential skills and access to networks of solidarity and support. The main element of the provocation is to proliferate digital hubs that offer ICT training, services, safe gaming spaces, and recording facilities linked with DIY maker labs and driven by community needs and priorities. While there was resounding agreement that everyone should have access to digital technologies and the opportunities that are connected to these technologies, some participants felt that there were certain assumptions that the provocation made about society’s desire for unity, reconciliation and its culture of generosity.